July 4th

I have already started to decorate my house for this important and special day. I have seen a few websites lately and in the mall that are all dec'd out and it has really gotten me in the festive mood. I am inviting some neighbors over on the 5th for a backyard BBQ so that should be fun and festive too! I can't wait I just love throwing parties! I promised myself just a few decorations and just focus more on the company, food and fun.

This is a little decoration I made for the grill. It is a red mason jar from Kirklands ($2.99) some pinwheels and an American flag from Target ($1.00/set) and the fireworks are actually put together from a paper straw, one in blue and one in red and then a cupcake pick (Target). 

This is the wreath from the front door I have for a couple of years now and happily put it up on Memorial day and for July 4th celebrations.

To along with my other mason jar I made this cute little decoration. I have two of them by the TV and they are just glass jars that usually hold a candle. I replaced the candle with the crunchy easter grass in white and then added the same pinwheels, flags and sparklers. I like how they are all similar around the house and it makes everything look very coordinated.

Other door same wreath.

I can't wait to get the dinning room table scape done and that is going to be cute. I have so many mason jar glasses in my house that I could just use them and just figure out a cute decoration for the handle or something. Another idea is what to do for the napkins and the napkin rings? Hummmmm my wheels are spinning now. Have fun decorating for the 4th!

Beach time

New Smyrna Beach Trip- This was our first of many beach trips this summer! We just love the sand, sun, and relaxing in the water good time! The kids are just so easy now to pack up and head to the beach so I can tell I'm going to be heading there a lot this summer. I have a beach bag packed at all times and so I'm planning on going at least one day a week. Some things I pack for a day at the beach are beach towels for each person, a medium size cooler on wheels, an umbrella with the screw in sand holder, and a change of clothes for everyone- except me. I don't mind staying in semi wet clothes. In the cooler I throw in some sandwiches, fruit, lots of water, and chips. The little kids each have a bucket with their sand toys in it and everyone pitches in and helps walk to the beach and then we are set for the sunshine!

Hope everyone has a great summer and I will post pics soon of some day trips we are planning here in Fl.

Teacher gift

This school year has come to an end. It is always bitter sweet. They have all grown so much and learned a whole year worth of material and I feel like they just up too fast. Every year it does seem to get a little easier with the homework, the chores, and the day to day running around, but again that is bitter sweet too because I just love the craziness! (believe it or not)

Anyways, this the teacher gift that I made for my first graders teacher this year and it had a movie gift card in the card holder. It was so much fun making this for her and I love using the chalkboard.

Such an exciting time of year! It is always full of games, parties, gifts, some tears, new beginnings and welcoming that summertime fun! Can't wait for the summer to begin!

Rainbow cake

I made this yummy vanilla cake for my Dad's birthday. All of my siblings were getting together to surprise him for his 70th bday so I thought I would bake a cake but I wanted to add a little bit of prettiness to it so I added some food color to some of the batter. You can find how I assembled it here. It was so much fun to make and I put a yummy strawberry frosting on it with some big yummy fresh strawberries. It was so pretty and I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Sorry. :( There is always next time.

So this is what it looks like after you place the plain batter on the colored batter. Then just bake like the directions. 

Here is a picture of my sweet dad on his 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad. He is with my mom and children and my nephew is the other blonde little boy in the picture. 

Blueberry Pickin'

We had the best time picking these blueberries. Believe it or not we were in the rain while we picked them. Thank goodness the rain did not last very long but Sebastian was soaked. It was so cute because I was in charge of holding the umbrella over my two princesses while they picked the berries so they would stay dry. But of course my son, the boy that he is, did not want a silly umbrella so off he went to adventure out and pick the very best berries. It was so much fun! I have never been fresh picking of any sort of fruit and so many people can not believe this. I guess I have been missing this from my life! ha ha. Well it was so refreshing to be picking fresh berries that were just right off the bush. I was so happy when the kids were so excited too. I have always said I am a country girl stuck in the city and this just proves it. I need a farm with lots of acres. Maybe a girl can dream right!

Look at all of these blueberries! There are 6lbs in this bucket. We have so many recipes to start looking up so we can use up all these blueberries. The first one on the list is a smoothie. Here is the recipe. 

Blueberry Smoothie:

1 C fresh blueberries

1 whole banana

1 cup Vanilla Almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 ice cubes

Then just blend it all together in a blender and it will make about 3 smoothies. Enjoy! 

Garden week 2

So the seedlings are coming along really nice and we finally cleared an area in the yard for the raised bed. I had to do quite a bit of research about where the best place to put the garden and I read that it is where the sun hits it for about 8 hrs. So we found a nice rectangle on the side of the house and that is where we are going to put it. Now I just have to go buy the materials for the bed and start building. I did put some of the herbs in pots yesterday and a few of the tomato plants too because I didn't want them to feel cramped. When we transplanted them they still had the egg shell so we broke the shell into pieces and placed it in the soil. I figured it would give them some good vitamins in the soil. Then we carefully placed the small plants in pot. The roots looked so good and strong so hopefully this Florida sun won't be too much for them. I have to water them all the time and the sunflowers are really getting big and their soil drys up quickly. I think they are almost ready for the big garden. But for now they are stuck on the porch.

Garden

This year I really want to plant and grow my own vegetables. In our new house our backyard isn't huge but it is big enough to have a garden that will be a pretty good size. So I have been doing lots of research about what to plant and what season to plant them in because in Florida the heat can be so intense for small plants that some will not survive like they would in a northern area. I am also going to build a 16ft. X 8ft. garden box so I can make sure it gets the right amount of water and the proper soil for our veggies. I just can't wait for the kids to be able to pick the veggies for dinner right here in our backyard. I am so excited just thinking about this. My mom used to do that for me. When I was little I lived in PA and my mom had this huge garden on the hill on the side yard and let me tell you we were outside everyday weeding, watering, picking and planting and I remember those days so fondly. Some of the things she grew I loved and some I didn't but that's okay because you know it came from our own yard. It is so funny how trends come back in full circle because I remember in my early 20's telling my mom- why do you have a garden just go to the store and it is so cheap, but now I understand so much more and I don't want all those unknown chemicals going on my food for my family. I figured if I have my own garden I have so much more control over what we are putting into our body.

Here is how I am getting started on planting our garden. First,  I saved some eggshells and washed them out and that is what we are going to grow our seedlings in. 

Here are some pictures of the plants right after I planted the seeds. I also saved the popsicle sticks and broke them in half and wrote down what was planted in each container. Now I used 2 different containers to put them in. I used one that is biodegradable and the other one is plastic so I will have to pull the shell out and just plant it right in the ground when the big garden is ready. My plan is to grow the seedlings and then by the time they are ready to go in the garden the garden box will be ready. (I hope my plan works). 

I will keep you posted on the garden update as soon as more happens. Right now it's like watching an egg hatch- not much happens! 

HAPPY GARDENING!